Vatican City
The smallest country in the world offers the heart of Catholicism and among the
world's finest art collections, including the Sistine Chapel and the Raphael
Rooms (ceiling pictured). Go to Vatican City!

Austria
Belvedere Palace (pictured) is just one of many palaces found in Vienna. The capital
is a good start to Austria, which also features the Alps, the Lakes District, and
incredible history & food. Go Now!

Latvia
Latvia is small, but has a diverse history, foods, and architecture (shown), which
includes aspects from both Eastern and Western Europe. Begin Your
Journey!

Ethnicity, Language, & Religion of Armenia

Ethnicity

Armenia is an extremely homogenous country as most of the
people are ethnic Armenians. The Armenians are a people who have lived in the Caucus
Mountains, and surrounding regions for millennia and are a somewhat ancient people
with a fairly distinct ethnicity. With a homeland in the Caucus Mountains, the ethnic
Armenians are most closely related to other Caucasian people. This makes the Armenians
related to the people of Europe and the Middle East to varying degrees, but with
no real close ethnic relatives.

Language

Armenian is the official language of Armenia and nearly everyone in
Armenia speaks this language natively. The Armenian language is an ancient
Indo-European language and is often considered to be its own branch of the language
family, meaning it has no close linguistic relatives. Armenian is written in the
Armenian alphabet, a distinct alphabet, not used with any other language.

Due to former Soviet rule, many people in Armenia still speak Russian,
including the small ethnic Russian population. Even today Russian is widely spoken
and taught in schools, but English is also growing in popularity, although few people
are fluent in English.

Religion

Armenia was the first country in the world to officially
convert to Christianity, which they did in about 300 AD. The people still view Christianity
as an important identifying feature of their culture, although the most practiced
religion, Armenian Apostolic, is no longer officially recognized by the government
as the state religion.

Orthodoxy is a Christian religion that claims to be the most loyal to the Christian
faith and religion as it was described by Jesus and the Gospels in the New Testament.
Christianity, including Orthodoxy, was founded after the death of Jesus in about
30-33 AD; various branches of Orthodoxy were officially recognized by governments
long before Catholicism was recognized in the Roman Empire.

Orthodoxy and Catholicism have many of the same beliefs; both believe that there
is a single God who created everything and a savior, the son of God, Jesus Christ
who is the forgiver of sins. However, Orthodoxy is very decentralized so each bishop
oversees their local country or region, giving each orthodox country a different
leader. In this way, no bishop has more power than any other, meaning the tenants
and interpretations of the faith remain relatively unchanged. These beliefs are
based on the teachings of the Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, in
particular the life and teachings of Jesus, which is found in the gospels (in the
New Testament).